What’s New for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE

Here’s an overview of the new features and enhancements that were added recently to improve your Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE experience. You don’t need to request an upgrade to be able to use the new features in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE — they are available to you automatically.

In general, new features are available only when you create a new domain, and can't be used on domains that were created before the new feature was present.

Topics:

January 2025

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 25.1.1:
Feature Description

Updated OKE stack for 25.1.1-oke_v1.30.1-1

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

October 2024

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 24.4.1:
Feature Description

Updated OKE stack for 14.1.1.0.0: 24.4.1-oke_v1.28.2-1 14.1.1.0.0

Updated OKE stack for 12.2.1.4.0: 24.4.1-oke_v1.28.2-1 12.2.1.4.0

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

July 2024

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 24.3.1:
Feature Description
Updated OKE stack: 24.3.1-oke_v1.28.2-1

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

June 2024

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 24.2.2:
Feature Description
Updated OKE stack: 24.2.2-oke_v1.28.2-2

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

May 2024

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 24.2.2:
Feature Description
Updated OKE stack: 24.2.2-oke_v1.28.2-1

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

April 2024

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 24.1.2:

Feature Description
Use April PSUs

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

March 2024

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 24.1.2:

Feature Description
Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE components Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now supports the following versions for the components:
  • Kubernetes - 1.28.2 (default)
  • Kubernetes 1.27.2 in UI

January 2024

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 24.1.1:

Feature Description

Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

October 2023

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 23.4.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Domain on Persistent Volume (PV) Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE can now use the Domain on PV domain home source type to create a Java Required Files (JRF) domain or a non-JRF domain. See Create a Domain.
Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE components Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now supports the following versions for the components:
  • Kubernetes - 1.26.7
  • WebLogic Kubernetes Operator - 4.1.1
  • Verrazzano - 1.6.1
Use October PSUs

New domains include the October Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

August 2023

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 23.3.2:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE components Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now supports the following versions for the components:
  • Kubernetes - 1.26.2
  • WebLogic Kubernetes Operator - 4.1.0
  • Verrazzano - 1.6.1
Use July PSUs

New domains include the July Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

July 2023

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 23.3.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE component

Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now supports Kubernetes - 1.26.2.

Use July PSUs

New domains include the July Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

May 2023

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 23.2.2:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE components Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now supports the following versions for the components:
  • Kubernetes - 1.25.4
  • WebLogic Kubernetes Operator - 4.0.6
  • Verrazzano - 1.5.2
Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

April 2023

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 23.2.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Auxiliary images Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now uses auxiliary images to create a domain, update a domain, and patch a domain. See these topics in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE:
Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

February 2023

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 23.1.2:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

January 2023

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 23.1.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

December 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.4.3:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description

WebLogic Server 14.1.1.0.0 support

You can create non-JRF domains with WebLogic Server version 14.1.1.0.0 running on JDK version 8 or 14.1.1.0.0 running on JDK version 11.

See the following topics in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE:

Product release version for stack listings

The stack listings for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now use the product release version. So when you launch a stack in the Marketplace, you must select the Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE release version from the Version list.

Patching utility tool

You can use the patching utility tool to list the latest patches and download the latest patches that are available in the catalog.

Note: To use these latest features for your existing Oracle WebLogic Server for OCI instances created before release December 14, 2022, you must upgrade the patching utility tool as described in Upgrade Patching Tool Version in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE..

See List Patches in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

Use October PSUs

New domains include the October Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

October 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.4.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description

Private subnet for load balancer

You can now also select a private subnet for the load balancer when you create a stack in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE. See Configure the Network and Configure the Load Balancer in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

Provide new registry user name and token for pipeline jobs

When you deploy or undeploy a sample application, update a domain, and apply patches to a WebLogic Server installation, you can specify the OCIR credentials different than that you specified when creating a stack.

See the following topics in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE:

Use October PSUs

New domains include the October Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

July 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.3.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Application Configuration

When creating a WebLogic Domain in Verrazzano, you can use the create application configuration job to select a component, which allows to generate the basic application configuration with an IngressTrait and a MetricsTrait. See Create a Stack in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

Use July PSUs

New domains include the July Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

June 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.2.3:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description

Support to select secrets

When creating a stack, you can now select the compartment where the secret is located and the secret that you want to use. See Create a Stack in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

Flexible and Standard3-based (Intel) shapes

Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE supports BM.Standard3.64, VM.Standard.E3.Flex, VM.Standard.E4.Flex, VM.Standard3.Flex, and VM.Optimized3.Flex shapes for the compute instances.

See the following topics in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE:
Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

May 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.2.2:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description

Configure Verrazzano

During stack creation, you can create a Kubernetes cluster in Verrazzano and customize the Verrazzano configuration. You can also create and manage WebLogic domains in Verrazzano using the Pipeline jobs.

See Configure Verrazzano and Manage WebLogic Domains in Verrazzano in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

April 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.2.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

February 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.1.2:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

January 2022

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 22.1.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description

Create database with database connect string for a JRF-enabled domain with OCIDB

For a JRF-enabled domain with OCIDB, you can create a datasource using the database connection string for an existing network only. In this case, Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE creates a single instance data source. However, you can update the data sources for Oracle WebLogic Suite and Oracle WebLogic Server Enterprise Edition. See Configure Provision with JRF.

Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

December 2021

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.4.2:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description

Reuse WebLogic node pool

You can create a WebLogic node pool when you create a stack, and reuse this node pool when you create a domain using the Jenkins job.

See Configure the Container Cluster in Create a Stack and Create a Domain.

Use October PSUs

New domains include the October Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

October 2021

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.4.1:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Use October PSUs

New domains include the October Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

September 2021

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.3.3:

If you are using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE (Release 21.3.2 or earlier), see the documentation listed in the Books page (under Previous Release).

Feature Description
Multi-domain Support Multi-domain enables you to create multiple domains in a single Kubernetes cluster. You can create domains in the existing Kubernetes cluster using Jenkins CI/CD pipeline jobs. See Manage WebLogic Domains.
Automatic Patching You can use Automatic Patching Jenkins job to automatically schedule patching for the required domains. See Automatic Patching.
Bring Your Own Container Image You can create custom base images or upload your own preferred base image, which you can use to create a Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE domain. See Create a Custom Base Image.
Use July PSUs

New domains include the July Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

August 2021

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.3.2:

Feature Description
Ingress controller namespace

The ingress controller namespace is changed from ingress-nginx to wlsoke-ingress-nginx. This namespace change is to avoid conflicts with the Verrazzano ingress controller namespace, if Verrazzano is installed later.

Use July PSUs

New domains include the July Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Web Services Manager (WSM).

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

July 2021

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.3.1:

Feature Description

Security Checkup Tool

Oracle WebLogic Administration Server console includes a security checkup tool for security warnings. See Security Checkup Tool in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Load balancer with a reserved public IP You can now provison a load balancer with a reserved public IP. See Configure the Network in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.
Use July PSUs

New domains include the July Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

June 2021

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.2.3:

Feature Description
Update the Repository Schema Utility Password using Secrets If you are using Model in Image and modified the Repository Schema Utility (RCU) password, then you must update the schema password in the domain.

See Update the Repository Schema Utility Password using Secrets in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes
Managed SSH Sessions Managed SSH Sessions for Bastion Service is now supported in instances created using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.
Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

May 2021

The following table outlines the new features for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.2.2:

Feature Description
Model in Image Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE now supports Model in Image to create WebLogic domain home configuration from Docker images. See Model in Image.

Support for private endpoint configuration of Kubernetes cluster

You can configure the Kubernetes API endpoint of a cluster for an existing network with a new subnet or an existing subnet.

See Configure the Network in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

April 2021

The following table outlines the new feature for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.2.1:

Feature Description
Use April PSUs

New domains include the April Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

March 2021

The following table outlines the new feature for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.1.3:

Feature Description

Kubernetes configuration with existing cluster

You can provision an Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE domain using an existing cluster for an existing network setup. See Configure the Container Cluster in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Policies for OS Management service

For compute instances created using the OS Management (OSMS) service, the policies required to access OSMS have been added. See Create Policies for the Dynamic Group in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Flexible load balancer shape

For both private and public load balancers, you can now create a flexible shape with a minimum and maximum bandwidth size.

See Configure the Network in the Create a Basic Domain and Create a JRF-Enabled Domain sections in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

February 2021

The following table outlines the new feature for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.1.2:

Feature Description

Terraform Scripts

You can access the Terraform Scripts of an Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to perform Oracle Cloud Infrastructure tasks using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Command Line Interface.(CLI). See Terraform Scripts in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

WebLogic Server authentication using Oracle Identity Cloud Service

Use Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE to create a domain that integrates the Oracle WebLogic Server security realm with Oracle Identity Cloud Service. As a result, users that access the administration console or your Java applications are authenticated against Oracle Identity Cloud Service. See these topics in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes:

Utilities to manage servers

You can now use scripts to manage the lifecycle operations on the WebLogic pods. See Start and Stop Servers in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Resource name prefix character length

The length of the resource name prefix name is extended to 16 characters.

Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

January 2021

The following table outlines the new feature for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 21.1.1:

Feature Description

Patching tool utility

You can use the patching tool utility to download the patches for the WebLogic compute instance and the bastion instance if you do not have access to the support portal to download the required patches. See Download Patches Using the Patching Tool Utility in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Use January PSUs

New domains include the January Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

December 2020

The following table outlines the new feature for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 20.4.3:

Feature Description

Session Persistence

Configure session persistence when deploying Java EE applications to a WebLogic cluster. See Session Persistence Considerations in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Cloud Shell scripts to validate existing network setup

You can run scripts from the Cloud Shell to validate the existing network setup if you run into issues during provisioning. See Validate Existing Network Setup in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Bastion configuration is optional

You can configure a bastion compute instance on a public subnet to provide access to the Container Cluster worker nodes and the administration instances that are provisioned in private subnets. See Configure the Compute Instances and Configure the Network in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Subnet in a separate compartment

You can select a subnet compartment that is different than the VCN compartment when you're using an existing subnet. See Configure the Network in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Use October PSUs

New domains include the October Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

November 2020

The following table outlines the new feature for Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE Release 20.4.2:

Feature Description
Kubernetes Secret Encryption

When you create a domain, you can encrypt the Kubernetes secrets at rest in etcd by using the master encryption key in the OCI vault service.

See Configure the Kubernetes Cluster when you Create a Basic Domain or Create a JRF-Enabled Domain in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Root policy creation is optional

When you create a domain, by default the OCI Policies check box is selected and Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE creates a dynamic group and relevant root-level (tenancy) policies. You need to create a dynamic group only when a user creates a domain and does not select OCI Policies.

If you're an administrator, see Create a Dynamic Group and Create Root Policies in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Added compartment policies

If you are not an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure administrator, you must be given management access to resources in the compartment in which you want to create a domain using Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

If you're an administrator, see Create Compartment Polices in Using Oracle WebLogic Server for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Engine for Kubernetes.

Dynamic group and root-level policy

When you create a domain, Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE creates one dynamic group and one root-level (tenancy) policy. This root-level policy has multiple statements that are scoped to compartment IDs, resource IDs, or both.

See Identity Resources for Dynamic Group and Root Policies.

Mount target in different compartment than the stack for existing network

When you configure the File System to provision Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE using an existing subnet, the mount target can be created in a different compartment than the stack. See Configure the File System.

Use October PSUs

New domains include the October Patch Set Updates (PSUs) for Oracle WebLogic Server.

See Patches Included in Oracle WebLogic Server for OKE.

Documentation Accessibility

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Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers that have purchased support have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=info or visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=trs if you are hearing impaired.